I look back at the posts from a year ago… yikes. I think my writing has definitely improved since then. (Please don’t go read those. It’s painful sometimes…) I’m still planning on continuing to write here, since reviews are something I’ve always enjoyed. On that note, I’d like to apologize for not posting much. It’s been a rough month, and I haven’t had much time to either watch new movies (except for some musicals – post on that soon) or play new games. However, I just picked up a few slightly older DS games, and I’ll be posting my thoughts on those in the next couple weeks, along with some TV recaps as seasons finish up in the next couple months.

Since this is an anniversary post, I’m going to talk about something that I both enjoy immensely, and has been oddly popular in the past year. That thing is superheroes!

First off, I don’t have a preference between DC and Marvel. I love both of them equally. My favorite characters are divided fairly equally between the two, the heroes being (in no particular order) The Flash (either Barry or Wally), Daredevil, Green Lantern (John Stewart), and Captain America. I also enjoy a good villain, however, and those are (in no particular order) The Reverse-Flash, Harley Quinn, Green Goblin, Magneto, and Doctor Doom. (Personally, I find DC’s villains to be far more memorable, but they’re not my favorites. Weird.) A lot of these have shown up on the screen recently, or they’re about to.

TV and movies have been saturated with superheros in the past few years. We’ve gotten Arrow, The Flash – and soon Vixen – from the CW, with those shows not only featuring the title character, but other heroes as well (Ray Palmer/Atom along with maybe a future Green Lantern from Diggle on Arrow, some hints of Vibe from Cisco on The Flash…) I’m looking forward to Vixen, honestly. However, the CW is not the only one producing superhero television – Netflix is releasing Daredevil soon (yay!), ABC has Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (started slow, got good at the end of season 1) and Fox has Gotham (ehh… I’m watching it out of a morbid fascination with where they can take it next at this point…) Fan series of varying quality abound, and the movie industry has schedules for their Marvel and DC films. Needless to say, I don’t see a lack of superhero material in the next three years. Avengers 2, The Flash (why couldn’t you have put Grant Gustin in there!?), Doctor Strange, and two Justice League movies (Looking forward to Dawn of Justice!). I’ve also recently started in on reading comic books, and there’s no shortage of content there, either.

So why is that? Why are superheroes so popular in our culture at this time?

The truth is, I’m not entirely sure. I’m planning on writing an essay exploring that question. My initial thoughts are that we look for heroes, people who fight for the greater good. We have everyday heroes such as the police, firefighters, our military, but they can’t save everyone. People want a hero, someone who takes care of the things that the police can’t catch. Muggings, small-time robberies, a house fire where the firefighters can’t go in. We look up to our everyday heroes – but what if there was someone who did all those things for no credit or reward?

And to go with that hero, there must be a villain. Someone who poses a true threat – someone with no remorse or moral qualms. The Flash, the fastest man alive, has the Reverse-Flash, faster than him. Batman, grim and down-to-earth, has the Joker, a giggling psychopath. Captain America has Red Skull, the antithesis of what he believes in. Without a villain to keep stirring up trouble, our hero has no long-term reason to go on, to improve. We watch and read these heroes and villains battle it out for years, winning individual confrontations, although neither side ever truly wins the war. We cheer the heroes on, boo the villains. We appreciate a well-played plot on either side, and we spend our time wishing we were heroes too.

Granted, these issues can get iffy in real life. Is vigilante justice a good thing or a bad thing? I’m inclined to believe that vigilante justice is fine. Not everyone is cut out to be a police officer, and not everyone wants the credit. They just want to make a difference. I think that, quite possibly, that’s the crux of the matter. We want to make a difference – we just don’t know how. So we look to the screen and comics to find someone who does make a difference, and we idolize them. I think there are definitely worse things we could do – at least with superheroes, we can gain something good – confidence, a desire to help others. Superheroes impact people in ways that we can’t always measure immediately, but eventually show up in a choice, words, or just general behavior. And all through this, we continue to cheer on both our everyday heroes and our fictional supers.

I’ll step off my soapbox now, but what do you think? Are superheroes just a temporary thing, or are they an integral part of society that will never leave?

TV Tuesdays highlights TV shows that started in or after the 1980’s, with occasional exceptions.

This week’s TV show is….

Arrow

I don’t remember why I started watching this. I think it was probably one of my “let’s watch the first episode and see if it’s any good” moments. Despite a slow start, it’s actually a decent TV series. I didn’t realize it was based off of the Green Arrow character from DC at the beginning, but I figured it out about halfway through season 1. The show was sluggish for the first two or three episodes with character setup, but once we got past the character intros and got into the villain dynamics, it sped up right around episode four or five. Don’t get me wrong. I love a good character-oriented show, like Once Upon a Time or Heroes. However, the first few episodes of any show are often bogged down with introductions and exposition.

In a nutshell, the series is about Oliver Queen, a millionaire playboy who was trapped on a (supposedly) deserted island and presumed dead (after his dad’s boat The Queen’s Gambit sank) for five years. Understandably, it’s a bit of a shock to everyone to find out he’s alive and mostly intact, mentally and physically. (See the picture at the top. Five years on an island will do that to you.) Once he gets home, he goes about trying to repair all the broken relationships he left behind. His dad, Robert, is gone, of course (he was on the boat), his younger sister Thea has become a drug/alcohol addict party girl, and his mom Moira… well, she’s become a bit misguided. We’ll leave it at that. His former girlfriend Laurel Lance really wants very little to do with him (again, understandable, considering he was cheating on her… with her sister, Sara. Yup, Sara was on the boat too. Is she dead? No. I’ll give you that), and his best friend Tommy Merlyn. Of course, this is a superhero series, so we’ve got to get to the super part soon. Seems Dad left Oliver a book of names – corrupt businessmen who were exploiting the citizens of Starling City. Oliver decides that his mission is to bring those people down. To do that, Oliver comes up with a hooded archer persona, known to police and the general public as “the vigilante” or “the hood”. If he has to threaten these businessmen, okay. If it means killing them… that’s okay too. Those arrows are plenty lethal. So’s Oliver, if you force him into a hand-to-hand confrontation. It does not end well for you, should you irritate or otherwise make him angry. During all this, we’ve got SCPD Officer Quentin Lance (Sara and Laurel’s dad) determined to arrest the Arrow.

Before you start freaking out over a superhero killing people, it doesn’t last past the first season. Don’t worry.

Along the way, Oliver picks up allies, and loses a few friends. Without spoiling too much, he picks up friends and allies in the form of John Diggle, his bodyguard-turned-partner in vigilantism, and Felicity Smoak, the team’s tech support, local hacker, and employee at Queen Consolidated. He loses the friendship of Tommy after he learns the truth about Oliver’s Arrow persona. Oliver gains enemies such as the Dark Archer (expect a somewhat unexpected twist there) and Deadshot. Finally, he gains a stalker-fan (later partner) in the form of Roy Harper (you remember him, don’t you? Yeah, you do). Season 1 ends with some unfortunate deaths and a few twists – and proves that everyone’s not as evil or as good as they seem.

The Season 3 poster, featuring (from left to right) Roy Harper as Red Arrow/Arsenal, Felicity Smoak, Oliver Queen as the Arrow, Laurel Lance, and John Diggle.

UPDATE: As of Season 2, we’ve met Canary, (otherwise known as Sara Lance,) continued on our Roy Harper storyline (culminating in him becoming Red Arrow/Arsenal,) Detective Lance has been demoted for working with the Arrow (he helps on a regular basis throughout this season,) and we found out that a couple key villains are still alive – both of whom bring new twists, lies, and revelations to the story. I really don’t want to spoil too much of Season 2, because it’s a brilliantly twisted mess. A long-time character dies, and a few people are sent over the edge. (Also, we got a hilarious cameo from Harley Quinn and met Amanda Waller.)

Season 3 has also started… and more twists have been added, per apparent Arrow requirements. More deaths, more secrets, more new characters, and more cool costumes.

I think every season has to end with a character death and a new secret. I really think so.

Quite honestly, I enjoy this show a lot. I like superheroes, which doesn’t hurt, but it’s still a pretty good series. We’re heading into season 3 now, and Netflix has seasons 1 & 2 on instant play. Should be plenty of time to catch up, especially for me. Also, The Flash (Barry Allen, yay!) premiered on October 7th, so be sure to catch that too!

We’ve also gotten a new intro for Season 3 as of episode 2. I like the different intros for each season as the plot is revealed.

In the end, Arrow is a great story (if a bit slow at the beginning) for 14 and up due to language, mildly graphic violence, and the occasional inappropriate scene.

The CW website keeps the five most recent episodes up for streaming for those of us without TV. Arrow airs on Wednesdays.